Enter the Creative Leader

“The ability to deliberately engage one’s imagination to define and guide a group towards a novel goal — a direction that is new for the group. As a consequence of bringing about this creative change, creative leaders have a profoundly positive influence on their contexts (workplace, community, school, family, etc.) and the individuals in that situation.” – Jeffrey Zacko Smith

From the description above, we see that creative leaders are influencers with an uncanny ability to trigger their follower’s creativity and imagination.

Heterarchies – a peer-to-peer organisational model

Before we dive deeper into creative leadership, let us first understand how organisations are evolving.

In the social age, traditional hierarchical organisations will morph into heterarchical ones. Instead of having every worker managed by another above them like a pyramid, heterarchies are peer-to-peer systems. Here, decisions are often made in-situ, across different cross-functional teams.

Unlike traditional organisations, the CEO is no longer at the top of the “food chain” in a heterarchy. Instead, he or she is in the nexus of the “ecosystem”.

Catalysed by external and internal social networks, the organisation of the future will be more fluid, dynamic and fast moving.

Traditional versus Creative Leadership

With the above changes, traditional leadership approaches are no longer as effective nor efficient.

According to John Maeda, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, the heterarchical organisations of the future require creative leaders who are interactive, improvisational, risk taking, open and real.

Creative leaders work alongside their team members, and are transparent about their mistakes. They are also far more willing to take calculated risks, and to encourage their team members to critique and even challenge their ideas.

Often, the way they manage is more akin to a jazz ensembles rather than a traditional orchestra. Ideas and decisions are free-flowing, improvisational and adaptive.

A good way to view the differences between traditional and creative leadership is presented by the table below.

3. Sense Actively

Be attuned to the feelings of others. A creative leader is one whose ear, feet and heart is constantly on the ground. He or she is closely attuned to the emotional balance and group dynamics of his team.

Don’t lock yourself behind ivory towers. Instead, make special efforts to foster active relationships and show genuine concern for your colleagues in an open and transparent environment.

Instead of relying on tried-and-tested solutions to problems, creative leaders should activate their imagination to look for unconventional approaches to solutions. They should also have considerable flexible and reflexive management skills to adapt to an ever-evolving landscape.

This method of leading may inevitably lead to some degree of chaos and messiness in the process. It may also result in potential conflicts when ad-hoc unplanned for initiatives collide with the game plan. To avoid this, a creative leader needs to apply his or her heart to listen to what the team is saying.

5. Fail Productively

Failing productively means looking at how organisations can bounce back quickly from mistakes without disabling their core businesses. Having a resilient culture also helps organisations to stay focused to their objectives and be united come hell or high water. This is absolutely necessary in the tumultuous waters of today’s creative industries.

6. Grow From Critique

Last but certainly not least, creative leaders need to have thick skins that can handle negative feedback. Criticism is a key strength in creative organisations as it bolsters intellectual leadership while allowing teams to learn quickly.

Being able to speak candidly without fear of repercussion is certainly key in such organisations. Here, creative leaders can play significant roles by not just allowing open but respectful critique, but encourage their team members to also challenge their ideas.

Do You Know a Creative Leader?

As I ponder over the various values and attributes of a creative leader, I reflected upon some of the CEOs and bosses whom I’ve worked with. While some of them would certainly qualify as being “creative” or “imaginative”, they usually revert back to traditional top-down leadership styles in the face of challenges. This may perhaps be necessary, given that hierarchical leadership is often a trait of Asian leaders regardless of the size of their organisations.

What are your thoughts on creative leadership? Are there any examples that you can think of?